Chapter 6
CASSIE
Cassie was equal parts relieved and horrified.
It was good to know she’d be allowed to stay in the bunker.
But she didn’t want to be kept in a cage like a scientific specimen and she definitely didn’t want to be stripped naked in front of the two huge warriors!
After all, the Kindred made a big deal out of the fact that they never forced or raped women, but they were far from the Mother Ship here—all bets were off.
But she barely had time to struggle before Ravik was pulling her red silk robe and nighty off—unwrapping her like a greedy child might unwrap a gift at Christmas.
Before she knew it, Cassie was standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed over her breasts and her thighs pressed tightly together, trying her best to hide her “lady bits,” as her grandmother had always called them.
“Please relax, I’m not going to hurt you,” Severin said, stepping closer. The cool overhead light winked off the lenses of his glasses, rendering them opaque so she couldn’t see his eyes.
“Yeah, right!” Cassie spat. “Of course you’re not going to hurt me. You’re just going to rape me—that’s all.”
“What?” Severin sounded genuinely shocked. “Ravik and I are Kindred warriors—we revere and worship the Goddess and the divine feminine that resides in all women. We would never force ourselves on you.”
“Then why make your big friend strip me?” Cassie demanded. “And why is he sniffing me again?”
Because Ravik had stepped up behind her and had his face pressed to the side of her neck once more.
To his credit, his hands were on her shoulders—not her breasts or anywhere else—but it was still unnerving to have a seven-foot-tall alien warrior sniffing you while you were stark naked, Cassie thought.
“Ravik, stop that,” Severin ordered. He looked at Cassie. “I need you naked because I have to know how many times you were bitten or scratched and you clearly can’t be trusted to tell the truth since you lied about being infected.”
He was clearly still miffed about being called a rapist but Cassie was prepared to call him a lot worse if he or Ravik tried anything. And though the Beast Kindred had pulled back some, she could still feel his hot breath against the side of her neck as he inhaled her scent.
Suddenly, he surprised her by speaking in her ear.
“No hurt you,” he rumbled in a voice so deep she could feel it vibrating through her entire body. “No force females. Females sacred. Kindred must never hurt them.”
The angry, offended look fell of Severin’s face to be replaced with an expression of shock.
“That’s the most he’s spoken in months!” he exclaimed. “And he’s almost speaking in complete sentences!”
“So…what does that mean?” Cassie asked, frowning. She was still trying desperately to cover herself and it felt odd to be having a conversation with a strange male while she was buck naked.
“What does it mean?” Severin repeated. “Why—don’t you see?
He’s following our conversation—he understands what you’re afraid of and he’s trying to reassure you.
” He tapped his temple with one long finger.
“That indicates higher brain function—which is the first thing to go when the virus really takes hold. Something is bringing him back.”
“So…this is normal behavior for him? All this…sniffing?” Cassie indicated the way the Beast Kindred was still inhaling her scent—though at least he no longer had his face pressed to the side of her neck.
“No, of course not,” Severin said impatiently. “But he’s more himself now than he has been in months. I mean, he’s more here with me—with us—mentally.”
“Well, I’m here too and I’m naked,” Cassie said bluntly. “I mean, I’m happy your friend is talking again, but can we please finish this so I can get dressed again?”
“Fine.” Severin grew cold again, his glasses flashing blankly as he nodded his head. “Spread your arms please and let me see you—all of you.”
“Spread my arms so you can see all my lady bits? I don’t think so,” Cassie snapped.
Severin sighed.
“Fine—we’ll do it the hard way. Ravik—spread her arms for me.”
“Hey!” Cassie protested but the massive Beast Kindred was already taking her by the wrists and spreading her arms wide. Since he was still standing behind her, she felt like they were in the classic “Titanic” pose.
Only Rose wasn’t butt-naked when she and Jack stood on the prow of the ship, whispered a sarcastic little voice in her head.
She didn’t know when she’d felt more vulnerable…more naked. But there was nothing she could do about it.
To his credit, the big Blood Kindred didn’t leer at her or make any remarks about her body but he was extremely thorough. He looked between her fingers and toes and inspected her inner thighs. He even ran his fingers through her hair and looked at her scalp, which sent more shivers down her spine.
He found the bite mark on her arm at once and shook his head.
“That’s nasty—and fresh.”
“I told you, it just happened. In fact, I’d be a gonner right now if the big guy—er, Ravik—hadn’t pounded the Infected that bit me on the head and then run off with me,” she said stiffly. “I don’t know why he bothered since he saw me get bitten.”
She still resented being poked and prodded, even if it was medically and scientifically necessary—which she wasn’t completely convinced it was.
“He probably rescued you because that’s a Kindred’s natural instinct—to save a woman in danger,” Severin replied. He straightened up. “All right—I only see the one bite and no scratches.”
“Which is exactly what I told you,” Cassie pointed out.
He frowned.
“You also told me that you hadn’t been bitten at all and weren’t infected.”
“I wasn’t going to stay around if I started feeling the urge to bite anyone, you know,” Cassie told him. “I was going to leave on my own if I started getting, uh, urges. Either that or find a gun and off myself.”
Severin looked horrified.
“Don’t speak of such things! You’re a Mature Elite, blessed by the Goddess. To take your own life would be nothing short of blasphemy.”
Cassie frowned at this response. For a male of Science, he was surprisingly religious.
Then again, she knew the Kindred took their worship of the female deity very seriously.
They called their Goddess, “The Mother of All Life” and believed that she came to speak to them sometimes.
Cassie was agnostic herself, but she respected other people’s beliefs enough not to make fun of them.
“I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t going to stick around if I started having the urge to gnaw your face off,” she said bluntly. “I’m not morally bankrupt—just scared to death.”
His pale blue eyes softened a bit behind his glasses.
“I understand. Being infected is frightening. The good news is, I’m a Xeno-virologist and I’m trying to perfect a cure right now.
I injected Ravik with a dose of my latest anti-viral just this morning and from the improvements he’s showing, it seems to be working.
Maybe I can make a version to work on a human, too. ”
“Do…do you really think you can?” Cassie heard the tremble in her voice again and couldn’t stop a few hot tears from leaking down her cheeks.
She was feeling incredibly overwhelmed right now—being cheated on by her husband, kicked out of her home, bitten by an Infected, dragged to a secret bunker, and stripped naked for an inspection was a lot to handle all in the space of a few hours.
“I do think so,” Severin said firmly. “I’ve got some of your blood already to work with. In the meantime, we need to get you into a decontamination bath. The Virus can be airborne sometimes too—which is why Ravik always wears a respirator when he goes out for supplies.”
“But why make him wear a mask at all? I mean, if he’s, er, already infected?” Cassie asked—then wished she could take the question back. It was clear that Severin was touchy about his best friend’s status.
But the Blood Kindred scientist seemed to take the question in stride.
“Because I don’t want him to increase his viral load,” he explained patiently. “There’s no sense in taking a chance—especially when I’m trying to decrease the amount of virus in his system.”
“I didn’t know it was airborne too.” Cassie shivered and then realized how cold she was.
Her nipples felt like ice cubes and her skin was covered in chillbumps.
“Hey, can I put my arms down now?” she asked, since Ravik was still holding them away from her body.
“It’s like a meat locker in here—I’m freezing. ”
“Of course. Ravik—put down her arms. She’s cold,” Severin said, nodding at her.
Since the Beast Kindred didn’t obey orders at once, Cassie looked back and over her shoulder at him.
“Hey, you heard your friend. Let me cover myself again. I’m cold!”
A frown tugged at the corners of the huge Kindred’s mouth.
“Mate is cold?” he asked, sounding for all the world like a confused caveman to Cassie.
“Yes, very cold—freezing. Brrrr,” she said, trying to get the point across.
At last he nodded.
“Then Ravik will warm.”
And to her surprise, he loosed his hold on her wrists and then immediately turned her around so she was facing him. Before she could object, he put his arms around her and was pulling her close to him.
She could feel his black leather vest against her bare breasts and his tight leather trousers against her thighs. Then his big, warm hands began rubbing briskly up and down her bare back, sides, hips, and ass as though he intended to warm her up through friction and body-heat alone.
“Hey…hey!” Cassie protested, wiggling in his arms. “Nobody asked you to do that!”
“Ravik, stop!” she heard Severin say sharply. “She’ll warm up in the decontamination bath—you don’t have to rub her.”
The big hands slowed…then stopped, though they remained firmly on her back. It seemed that it took some time for the command to get through the big Beast Kindred’s head. Cassie looked up at him and saw a frown on his face.
His golden eyes were clearer now—she barely saw any of the white film on them. Also, she had to admit, she did feel warmer now—not just because of all the rubbing but because the Beast Kindred gave off heat like a furnace—she couldn’t help getting warm when she was pressed against him.
“Mate needs a bath,” he said, nodding and looking down at her. “Ravik will bathe her.”
“What? No!” she protested. That would be even worse than the rubbing!
But he was already scooping her up into his arms and carrying her out of the decontamination room.
It seemed she was going to get a bath…whether she wanted one or not.